


said i couldn't love someone ('cause i might break)

by far2late



Series: ilomilo [10]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Arguing, BAMF TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Betrayal, Butcher Army, Comfort, Crying, Exiled TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Fluff, Gen, Good Older Sibling Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Mental Breakdown, Other, Play Fighting, Protective TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Recovery, Restraints, Supportive Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Torture, Traitor Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Whump, lmanberg is not the best in this, no beta i never beta ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28182681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/far2late/pseuds/far2late
Summary: "Ranboo’s mind had almost completely frozen up at that point, the teenager stuttering for words before he looked to Fundy. Fundy, who was a hybrid and a friend and someone who could tell Quackity that it didn’t work like that and he wasn’t evil and Enderman hybrids couldn’t just go feral and that he had perfect control of-“Yeah, it honestly sounds like a good idea,” Fundy said, a sad smile on his face as he spoke. An involuntary gurgle escaped Ranboo’s lips, alike to one of an Enderman’s. He watched as the fox hybrid flinched at the sound and recoiled himself, collecting his tall frame to be smaller in the van."orranboo learns of l'manberg and their treatment of heroes
Relationships: Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF) and Ranboo, Ranboo & Everyone, Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Wilbur Soot, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: ilomilo [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095689
Comments: 461
Kudos: 2871
Collections: MCYT, MCYT Fic Rec, Ranboo Is Best Boi





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i feel the burden now (it's weighing down my soul)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28156329) by [inkstained_pages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkstained_pages/pseuds/inkstained_pages). 



> quick note that the l'manberg cabinet is exaggerated to be the antagonists of this story and not to read this if you're particularly sympathetic for the butcher army and their attempt to murder technoblade + this will be very hybrid-based, but none of it is canon as far as i'm aware, so don't be stressed about trying to keep up

Ranboo’s initial introduction to the lands dubbed as L’manberg were something that he dwelled on with bittersweet and guilt rather than the joy most people had when they had first joined the faction. Granted, he had joined a few days after their latest war against Manburg and Schlatt, but he hadn’t expected so much hostility and the way things escalated so quickly. It might have had to do with his previous experiences compared to now, but that wouldn’t be a fair comparison. 

One of the big things that stuck out for the lands of the Dream SMP wasn’t the builds, nor was it the seemingly endless war. It was just the amount of players compared to hybrids that he had noticed over the past few weeks. There were very few of them, not even many passive mobs. The only ones that had come to mind were Fundy and Sam, though the latter had barely been around the L’manberg area, always working on projects that were bigger and greater than anything that the others could wish to accomplish on their own. 

But still, the player to hybrid ratio surprised him, especially when he had learned of the general attitude against hostile mob hybrids, despite how rare they were. As far as he had observed, the others had hated Schlatt and Techno, both hybrids who had betrayed their country. They definitely hated Dream, though they hadn’t even figured out he wasn’t a normal player yet. It was a bit funny to Ranboo, in the sense that Tommy had the balls to go up against a near cryptid for music disks and hadn’t been aware of how dangerous it was. 

The general rules for hybrids seemed normal at first glance, but there were little things that irked Ranboo about L’manberg’s attitude towards them that seemed almost subconscious. Tubbo had almost always made it a habit to carry a sword in Ranboo’s vicinity, one that he hadn’t seen when he was with any other member of the SMP, save for Dream and Techno, who he hadn’t seen much of. It hurt him a little to be grouped into the mix with the two tyrants who had supposedly caused so much suffering, but he couldn’t argue against his new friend. Tubbo was still treating him how he would Fundy or Niki, it wasn’t fair to assume that he was just wary because he was an Enderman hybrid. He was new, too, he had to earn trust. 

That didn’t stop his discomfort when Quackity had prodded him with a few tools, looking at him as though he were something to examine when he had been in the early stages of their friendship, glaring at him through half-open eyes that seemed to hide more than they’d show his soul. There was something eerie about being around the bitter human that made him want to keep his distance, though he knew he couldn’t once he had been made the minutes man. 

Even Fundy had been wary of him, looking uncomfortable when he had teleported around without the help of an Enderpearl and had spoken in the soft tongue of the End rather than English when he was scrambling to remember the universal language he had picked up over his years on the streets. He knew the fox hybrid never meant it in a way to be malicious: he always looked apologetic when Ranboo had looked back to him with a confused look, but he knew that it was a problem that they had been so wary of him. 

It was what initially made him decide to stay neutral in everyone’s eyes, handing out things to everyone who needed them with little argument. Sam had done the same as a hostile mob and managed to earn the respect and kindness of everyone on the server. He would have asked him for help to integrate into their culture, but the man was rarely around anymore, and when he was, it was to work on a prison that Ranboo would like to stay very, very far from. The only thing that had bothered him was the lack of acceptance that Ranboo had slowly grown accustomed to where he had come from before.

Hypixel arenas were always more used to hybrids, despite their supposed danger and what they could do. He supposed it had a little to do with the infamous Technoblade who had taken the leaderboards by storm and made a name for himself, as well as solidifying hybrids as players in the tournaments and Crimson Trials that wouldn’t be pushed around easily and could hold their own, as well as rising to ultimate power and success. He was seen as a legend by hybrids, respected by humans, and seen as a monster by a loud minority of people who had been bitter he had beaten them out. 

Techno was often detailed to Ranboo in stories through strangers in alleyways and the rare bonfire he would stumble across in the fields that would be open to him sitting down with him. He was sure that if it weren’t for the mask on his face, he would be much less accepted, but it was a small mercy that he was able to make it by despite his unnatural height. His slow acceptance of the fact that people wouldn’t immediately murder hostile mob hybrids had been solidified when he had come across a woman in the aftermath of a tournament. 

She had been surrounded by her two human friends, who had laughed alongside her as she siped off her sword from the previous game she had joined in on. When Ranboo squinted, he could see bone jutting out from her sleeve and the hand that curled around the handle of her sword had been completely skeletal. Her face was pale and when she turned, the skin from around her mouth had been seemingly burnt off, showing off the majority of her skull with none of the organs and bits of human inside it needed to function. 

Even then, he could remember his amazement at how open she had been in the midst of a crowd of humans, even laughing with a few that had been completely comfortable with her. She hadn’t even had a shield up in the case of a surprise attack or the rare occasion of someone throwing themselves at her to kill her. It was what had given Ranboo the 180 on his decision to hide his hybrid status. 

The next time he had entered a Skywars tournament, he had entered under his Ender-given name and stood tall, mask off and cloak around his shoulders lose. His gloves had been nothing but a distraction, and he took them off to expose his blackened fingertips and paler palms that had been spotted with End particles and bits of black that looked like darkened freckles at first glance. 

He had come out as the victor and earned himself a crown after months of combat training that had gotten him a top spot on most leaderboards. 

It was a stark difference to go from somewhere he had been respected and not feared to a place where he was slightly estranged, holding back his more violent ways until no one had even known he had been a fighter in the first place. 

He assumed the first instance of L’manberg’s wavering trust in him was when he had finally finished the conflict resolution pit, the decor leaving the arena to look much darker than the arenas at Hypixel looked like. Tubbo had come along, bringing Purpled and Fundy with him to look at the arena and play around. 

Ranboo, of course, had recognized Purpled from his many excursions at the Hypixel arenas. His name was often emblazoned on the wall with many a star by his name. Purpled, in turn, recognized him for his prowess in dirty combat that had come along with Skywars and its unpredictable nature. The only downside of the underground fighting rings had been their lack of rules and honourless fighting that the two of them had adapted to over the course of their careers in the rings. 

“C’mon, Ranboo! I bet you can’t take me with just iron armour and a diamond sword!” Fundy crowed, Tubbo laughing along with him in the stands. It was more of a light-hearted day, the type where there was nothing to do but lounge about and relax. It was only a few days after Tommy had been banished and tensions had finally simmered down to the point that the group of them could joke around. Quackity hadn’t been seen in a while, but Ranboo didn’t worry about it too much. The man was an anomaly in his eyes, much more complicated than people gave him credit for. 

“You know I don’t like fighting, Fundy,” Ranboo says with an off-handed chuckle, hoping Purpled would take the hint to keep it on the down-low as he wrapped his hands with bandages. Fundy scoffed, gesturing to the two teens in the stands good-naturedly. 

  
“Just give them a bit of a show, y’know? Unless you’re _scaaared,”_ He teased, pointing a sword at him with an iron chest plate fastened over his chest. Ranboo brushed it off again, laughing. 

“I’m not just gonna fight you because you _asked,_ Fundy.” His hands worked to fix up a pile of arrows he left on the ground of the arena, gathering them carefully as he crouched down. Ranboo began pulling them into a proper bunch, flicking around a bit of string in one hand to tie them together properly, in the mechanical way that he was used to. 

“Maybe me and you could go at it,” Purpled suggested, standing up from where he was sitting to stretch, purple sweater pooling to his elbows instead of over his arms. Ranboo looked up from where he was sitting, an automatic jolt of curiousness filling him. He couldn’t say that he wasn’t interested, and he especially couldn’t just turn the offer down now. 

  
As much as staying neutral was a good thing, his mild hero-worship won out, leaving him to hum before standing up, taking off his suit jacket to expose the Enderman skin that had spread up his right arm almost completely, snaking away under his white dress shirt that he rolled up to his elbows. 

“I’m down.” At this, Fundy sputtered, incredulous. 

“You’ll fight him and not me? That’s giving yourself, like, an unfair advantage!” Ranboo snorted at the words, in the midst of rooting through his chests to find a sheathed diamond sword. 

“What about fighting _Purpled_ makes it easy for me to win? He’s practically a celebrity where I come from.” Tubbo seemed surprised at the words, as did Fundy, who had made his way up to the stands to get a bit of a better look into the fighting circle, watching the two teens prepare nonchalantly. 

“Really?” Tubbo questioned curiously. “Where did you come from?” Ranboo hesitated for a moment before throwing caution out the window and spilling anyway. 

“Around the Hypixel arenas. Y’know, all that illegal fighting stuff that was really popular,” He explained, pulling out a decently-sized diamond sword and closing the chest he was looking through, making his way back to the ring where Purpled was stretching his legs out in anticipation. 

“You came from there? What, did you watch the competitions or something?” Fundy asked, watching the two straighten up when facing each other. Ranboo looked up at the fox hybrid before shaking his head, moving to a small bowl on the side of the arena and dipping his forefingers in a splotch of red dye, smearing it across his white forearm in an inverted cross, closing his eyes and murmuring to the skies quickly before stepping back. 

“Used to play in them,” He answered simply, and the two of them took it as a cue to attack. 

Their swords clashed against each other harshly, Purpled almost immediately moving to swipe a foot under Ranboo’s legs, who side-stepped and took his sword out of the clash, swinging it around in an attempt to catch Purpled’s side. The teen moved back, almost automatically going to place blocks before realizing, in which both of them let out a little chuckle. 

Ranboo moved forward once again to strike, feigning a hit on the right to swing at his left with a fist that had been intercepted with the flat end of Purpled’s blade. They continued dancing around each other before Purpled had moved into the fray. 

  
They were fast enough in their fighting so that Fundy and Tubbo could barely make out what was going on, only seeing blurs of black, white, purpled, and a hint of red every now and then if they had made it a point to glare directly at the two to even try and get more details. 

By the time the two had calmed, Ranboo had Purpled on the ground, sword pressed against his with red and green eyes that glowed slightly as he pushed down, Purpled pushing back. The two were panting, but from where Tubbo had been sitting, Ranboo looked ready to stab Purpled through the chest. A jolt of fear went through him as he watched the hybrid push down his sword, vision flickering between Purpled and Ranboo compared to Quackity and Schlatt. He almost went to pull out his own bow and notch an arrow before Purpled kicked upwards, pushing his sword out of his hand and holding his own under Ranboo’s chin with the hybrid pushed down onto his back.

The hybrid froze as Purpled stared down at him, the two breathing heavily before breaking into smiles in unison, the teen offering him a hand as Ranboo took it, cold hand intertwining with his to pull himself up. 

“Good fight,” Purpled complimented. “You almost got me with that dirty play, you weasely little bastard.” Ranboo laughed aloud, dusting off his hands. 

“Just be glad there wasn’t any sand for me to kick up this time around,” He warned jokingly. Purpled chuckled a bit, nodding. Ranboo turned to the two in the stands, expecting something akin to cheering as they did for their other friends. 

Instead, he was greeted with looks of slight unease that shifted into awkward smiles when he turned to them, Tubbo waving at him enthusiastically. A small part of Ranboo ached slightly at the look, but he did little to argue in his favour or try to get encouragement from the pair. He was sure Purpled didn’t notice, anyway, so he decided not to make a big deal of it, not when he was ecstatic to meet someone from the Hypixel arenas and fight like he used to. 

  
His own smile faded and he resolved not to fight in front of them anymore. He didn’t want to be alone. 

* * *

Tensions were high in L’manberg after Techno had escaped with his horse, and the energy was starting to rub off on Ranboo, who had been trying to push for the trial in the first place. Quackity had been near-silent after his angered rant in the room below L’manberg, and Ranboo had almost thrown up as they tried to put the blame on him for- for something, something stupid he didn’t even involve himself in. 

Tubbo had done little to refute what had been said, leaving Ranboo to defend himself again and leaving him alone as he made his way upstairs and to his home in L’manberg. 

It was next to Phil’s, unfortunately. He wasn’t disappointed to see the man, just upset that he had to deal with the guilt that came with putting the man under house arrest. The boots he had on were very clearly enchanted in a way that would make it difficult for hostile mobs to fight against. They were of the same material that the skeletons and zombies kept for protection in dungeons would be lassoed and pushed around with. To see them just use the same on Phil without remorse was unsettling, and Ranboo most likely couldn’t take them off if he wanted. 

Even during Techno’s trial, Ranboo found it unnerving that they cited his lack of human qualities as a reason that he didn’t deserve a fair trial. It was barbaric in a way and had him clutching his netherite sword a lot closer to him in preparation for the worst. It felt wrong to disrespect the rule of no armour in L’manberg, but he didn’t feel safe in the slightest where he currently was. Quackity held an unhinged air about him when he had spoken of Techno as he was nothing but a pig, in intellect and in value. He could only imagine what he thought of other hybrids, his mind supplied traitorously. 

“Ranboo.” Quackity’s voice interrupted his thoughts, the man looking at him from across the table in the Camarvan. Ranboo looked up at him, eyes tearing away from his notebook as he read over previous passages to keep them fresh in his mind. 

“Hm?” He asked, eyes flitting to Fundy and Tubbo as they gave him a grave look. Tubbo seemed regretful, but he wasn’t aware why. Ranboo’s eyebrows furrowed, looking from Tubbo to Quackity. “What?” 

“You’re a hostile mob hybrid,” Quackity stated. Ranboo blinked, not knowing where the words had come from. He nodded in response after a moment and was prompted with a cleared throat. 

“Yeah,” He answered slowly, tucking his notebook away as Quackity sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. He seemed to dig the heel of his palm into his eye before looking up again, voice remorseful as he spoke. 

“I think we’ll have to give you the same ankle monitor as Phil, Ranboo. It’s just what would be- what would be safest right now! Since, y’know, how Endermen are. And piglins. You saw what happened with Techno, and how hybrids usually are, all violent and stuff. Even Schlatt was horrible, and he was one of the biggest hybrids out there! Pretty sure he was crossed with fucking- fucking Satan, or something. But, yeah, no, we need you to wear one. So, like, if you go feral we can make sure you don’t accidentally hurt someone else.” Quackity rested a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, looking at him with an air of sadness in his eyes. 

“I know you’d hate to accidentally hurt one of us because you couldn’t control yourself, yeah? And- and also, this would be a great way to make sure you’d be safe if your hybrid powers ever went out of control and you tried to like, eat something or teleport somewhere you weren’t supposed to, y’know?” 

  
Ranboo’s mind had almost completely frozen up at that point, the teenager stuttering for words before he looked to Fundy. Fundy, who was a hybrid and a friend and someone who could tell Quackity that it didn’t work like that and he wasn’t evil and Enderman hybrids couldn’t just go _feral_ and that he had perfect control of- 

“Yeah, it honestly sounds like a good idea,” Fundy said, a sad smile on his face as he spoke. An involuntary gurgle escaped Ranboo’s lips, alike to one of an Enderman’s. He watched as the fox hybrid flinched at the sound and recoiled himself, collecting his tall frame to be smaller in the van. 

He took a shuddering breath, eyes closed and breathing in deeply to keep himself under control of breaking down or- or something, before nodding. 

“If that’s what you… what you think is best. For you guys. I care about you guys, I’ll keep you safe.” 

The resounding smiles of the cabinet and the silence coming from Tubbo was equally reassuring and unsettling. Quackity had pulled an extra ankle monitor from his bag, which had been bloodstained, and set it on top of the table. Ranboo picked it up quietly, looking at it with a resigned dread before moving down to clasp it around his ankle, hearing it resoundingly click in place. 

The feeling was akin to being sleepy without wanting to go to bed, he realized as he put it on. Even for a creature as him, who only really slept in the Nether, he couldn’t help but find himself stumbling to the bed in his home right after he had installed the device on his foot. They had moved out of his way fairly quickly, letting him sluggishly stumble out of the van and down the planks of the street. 

It felt like he was being sapped of energy very, very slowly. His thoughts were sluggish and he could feel cold panic set into his soul at the thought of being stuck like this forever. Despite Tubbo’s reassurances that it would be temporary and just until things calmed down, he couldn’t help but feel flighty. Then his chest had started to ache, right where he knew his Ender Pearl had been resting, and he couldn’t hold himself back from teetering on the edge of tears. 

He had been right outside his home when Ghostbur had come around with his blue sheep on a lead. Ranboo had only just gathered enough energy to get up from where he had been collapsed against the ghost’s music stand when he felt a cold hand hover over his face, waving over it as if to wake him up. 

“Ranboo? Are you alright?” He questioned, voice echoing around his head in a way that made it ache even more than it did already. The teen groaned, shaking his head and pulling his legs up to his chest, one black hand tight around a pole and risking splinters as he did his best to pull himself up from where he had been sitting. He failed, slipping down and hitting his lolling head against the wood. 

  
He heard Ghostbur hum through a cotton-filled head, feeling him leave a lead in his lap before walking off. “I’ll bring Phil, it’s okay!” Ranboo barely had the energy to tell the ghost that Phil probably hated him and didn’t want to see him anyway, and would sooner leave him to die like L’manberg did to all the hybrids they seemed to come across. 

A gentle head bumped against his nose, crown hanging over the top of his head and falling onto the fluffy blue wool of the sheep Ranboo had to squint to see through bleary eyes. The teen sniffled a bit as the pain in his chest grew harsher, bringing him to tears as he left a hand to pet the sheep, his arms moving to wrap around the soft mob shakily. 

He bit back a sob and held onto the sheep, who only baaa-ed softly and settled down to sit down in a comfortable position and fit against his legs in a way that would prove to leave him with less hurt than he needed. The tears that slipped down his cheeks rubbed against his face uncomfortably as he rubbed his face against the wool of the sheep. 

Ranboo almost didn’t hear Phil come outside and sigh at his state, only focusing on not crying out in pain and wishing he had never put on the stupid ankle monitor in the first place. It was clear that the enchantments were much too harsh as if to overcompensate for the fact that he was an Enderman hybrid rather than just a regular hybrid. These enchantments would surely bring someone like Fundy to near-death, and he must’ve known that. 

Unless he wanted that to happen, Ranboo had thought, and a new wave of tears came as Phil picked him up in his arms carefully. The man winced, hurrying in his pace and entering his house before anyone had noticed he left his home, not stopping to shut his door as he made his way to the second floor, setting Ranboo down in the bed carefully. Phil shrugged off his cape, moving to grab anything vaguely medical before turning to the teen. 

“Ranboo? What’s happened, all Ghostbur told me was that you were hurt.” His voice was firm yet held the gentle concern the teen had been craving for a large portion of his life, watching him get choked up as he spoke up through tears and a voice that distorted every now and then. 

“Ch-Chest. Ankle mon- monitor, _fuck_ , hu _rts,_ please fix it, please-” Ranboo managed to get out, curling up on his side as the man’s gaze hardened at his words, shushing him quietly before pulling his pant lug up slightly, eyes widening when he saw the ankle monitor. 

“Binding, harming, resistance to Ender qualities, _Christ,_ mate, why did you let them put this on you?” Phil cursed, moving to root through his things to find an older book he had packed away. Ranboo was hardly present in the conversation, the ache in his chest turning into a burning feeling as he trembled. 

“Said it would keep them safe,” He mumbled through stuttering teeth. “Wouldn’t go- go feral.” Ranboo’s vision whitened out as he felt like his chest got stabbed through, letting out a pained noise that left Phil nearly shivering and had Ghostbur looking around for an Enderman downstairs with his sheep. 

“It hurts, it hurts, it _hurts-”_ Ranboo repeated through heavy tears as Phil came back, book in hand as he moved to examine the runes in the ankle monitor. The man shushed him again, voice gentle. 

  
“It’s alright, just go to sleep, it’ll feel better when you’re up. Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep,” The man repeated it as he scribbled his own runes onto the metal until Ranboo finally slipped into a pain-induced unconsciousness, the last thing he remembered being how Phil was the only one who seemed to _care._

* * *

“You did _what?_ ” Quackity’s voice cut through the throe of people who had begun speaking loudly at Ranboo’s hurried confession after his notebooks had been confiscated by Fundy. The Ender hybrid shrunk away from him, not wanting to be too close to the man when he still had a large, diamond axe in his hand. 

It had only been a few days since Phil had removed the torturous ankle monitor from his person, disposing of it and replacing it with a similar one so the others wouldn’t suspect a betrayal from him. Ranboo had been incredibly grateful, thanking the man over and over as to make it clear that he wouldn’t sell him out. Phil had repeatedly shut down the thankfulness before finally taking the hybrid into a hug to settle his nerves. 

  
It was one of the few times he had made contact with a human and not immediately been hurt in the process. It left him with a feeling that he was unable to interpret, hands shaking as he fixed his suit at the time. Phil had chuckled, patted him on the back, and promised him a safe place in his home as long as he needed. 

When Ghostbur had cut into the conversation, asking Phil to come somewhere with him, to which he responded negatively due to his ankle monitor, Ranboo volunteered in his place. It was what had led to the situation he was stuck in in the first place, the hybrid being forced to give Techno his armour in the presence of him and Tommy if he wanted to live. 

Obviously, with the incredibly spotty rates of death with mob hybrids, he agreed and handed them over easily. It seemed like the best call at the moment, and Ranboo was nearly sure that he could explain the actions to the L’manberg cabinet before they had gotten mad. Maybe it would have been a chance for him to explain everything about hybrids that they seemed to have misunderstood along the way. It wasn’t like their mistakes were of malicious intent, just out of ignorance and being raised away from places like the Hypixel arenas and where the Crimson Trials had originally taken place. Even the Capitol would be a better place for them to learn of hybrids, with how their kind overwatch was one himself. 

Hybrids and their deaths were always something that was a drop of a hat, in the end. It never worked on the basis that they would be given three to live out to the fullest, simply much more environment-based. Sam had drawn a lucky card, managing to die again and again and come back once more so long as there was a possibility that gunpowder could exist where he had respawned. He was near immortal in that sense, though age would get him eventually. 

Fundy was a passive hybrid, so he was expected to work under the same guise as a regular player, three lives to cherish before he may have reverted to a kitsune rather than a ghost, or simply pass on quietly. 

As for Ranboo, he would normally have spawned somewhere nearby a plethora of Endermen, but the conditions were unique here. The End was barred and the few Endermen that were around had been almost immediately killed for their Ender Pearls. There was a much lower chance that he would end up respawning as normal. Maybe he would just die for good, or he would come back as more of an Enderman than before. If he was lucky, he’d come back as just the same as he was before, but that was almost rarer than finding a Stronghold on the first try with Ender Eyes. 

  
He could explain, Ranboo thought. Surely he could.

“No, you don’t understand, just listen-” Quackity interrupted, eyes hard as he glared at Ranboo, the teen almost flinching back at the way he faced him as though he was his greatest enemy. 

“You- you think I’m gonna listen to some dirty _Face-Eater_?” The words left him gaping for a moment, the other two beginning to look uncomfortable at the harsh insult that had Ranboo taken aback. 

“No, you really don’t understand, it’s like- how do I explain, it’s like, mobs like my, the hybrids of hostile mobs they, um, what’s it, the respawn mechanics are kind of broken, like how- how Techno lived and how Sam just comes back to life again and again, and for, for Endermen, they come back a lot, but-” A sharp grin grew on Quackity’s face, hand moving to grab his wrist and tug him harshly, Fundy grabbing his other arm.

“This’ll be great for us, then!” He said cheerily. Ranboo’s eyes widened, shaking his head as he pulled himself back, only to meet the sharp edge of a Netherite sword. He froze up, letting Quackity pull his arms together and yanking him forward, Tubbo watching with an unreadable face. 

Fundy seemed to go one step further, kicking him to the ground by swiping at the back of his legs, foot pushing his head into the wood as Quackity moved to restrain his arms behind him. Ranboo’s red and green eyes dilated harshly, almost looking to be no pupil at all while he struggled. It only went to scare the trio more, their movements growing quicker as Fundy spoke. 

“He’s gonna go feral!” At Quackity’s inhale and the sudden pit of dread in his stomach, Ranboo shook his head, moving to get up as he spoke. 

“No, you didn’t let me finish-” He was cut off by his head being slammed against the wood, leaving him with a splitting ache in his head and stars in his eyes as he struggled to get control of what he was seeing. His words slurred in his mouth, and his hands were forced behind his back, restrained and held down as if he were a feral dog. 

He looked up at the president, who was stood farther from them, eyes wide. “Tubbo-”

As if the trio had heard his previous, a muzzle was pulled over his head, messing up his head and getting shoved in his mouth and pressing against his canines uncomfortably. Ranboo unsteadily tried to move his face away from the hands that tugged at him, only to be greeted with a foot pushing him against the wooden planks of L’manberg’s city. 

“Don’t make eye contact,” Quackity warned, using a make-shift bandana to blindfold him, black cloth pressing against his eyes uncomfortably as he was forced to shut them, leaving him dizzier than before. Ranboo struggled to get up before panting, quick breaths coming through his nose as he couldn’t breathe through his mouth. 

How had everything gone downhill so fast? 

Ranboo let his eyes flutter shut, weak and unsteady as Phil watched the scene from his home, horrified.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw / violence, blood, panic attacks, crying. they take up the majority of this chapter so there really isnt a certain part i can tell you to skip over if you want to read this and not read these things. i suggest you close this chapter completely if these things do trigger you, and that you should stay safe.

Ranboo knew that there were things that would come with being an enemy of the state, but he didn’t expect anything too harsh from the cabinet. Their aggressiveness at his arrest could be brushed off to paranoia due to the situation with Technoblade, and Ranboo still wanted to keep full faith in his friends and their abilities to come to a fair decision about his imprisonment. Because, despite how he wanted to paint it, he did mess up in the fact that he gave Techno his armour back, whether it be because of his threats or not. 

His first interaction with what was known as the Blood God of Hypixel was terrifying, not to under exaggerate, but he didn’t find it as scary as it could have been considering the circumstances. He was even able to joke around with the man while Tommy was there, gently making fun of the teen who seemed to be recovering from being at the end of his rope. Ranboo hadn’t had time to see the teen due to how much he had to do paperwork-wise while the Butcher Army spread their propaganda (Without a permit, as well!) so it was relieving to know that he had Techno to rely on now. 

The piglin hybrid might have hated him, but he didn’t hate his brother, and the teen seemed to be shining under his attention now that he had someone other than Ghostbur and Dream to rely on. Ranboo wished he could have at least offered to keep in contact through letters, but he knew that it would be too dangerous and would risk revealing Techno’s home to the Butcher Army now that they didn’t have the compass. It was pure luck that Quackity had it when Techno had managed to escape, but it was something that Ranboo found relieving at the time rather than a disappointment. 

Afterwards, Tubbo and he had started and finished the project to make a Bee Apiary within a week, a glorious week where they hadn’t spoken of politics or Techno at all. Tubbo seemed distracted the entire time, but he said little to the others and he didn’t try to make Ranboo talk about anything that he usually would either. It was strange to see the teen so subdued, but Ranboo persisted at his jokes and banter until Tubbo was laughing along with what he said, a little bit of a familiar glint in his eyes with bees floating around his head. 

With how the last week had gone, he didn’t expect to be thrown in prison by the same people he trusted with his life not too long ago, waking up to Blackstone walls and iron bars that seemed to be electric at the touch. He had found out the hard way when Quackity had come around the first time and he instantly reached out to try and get to his friend. The man looked jumpy at the movement, pressing down on a remote that he had in his hands the moment he moved. 

Ranboo had gasped at the feeling, convulsing slightly before pulling back as soon as it paused a second later, holding his hand close to his chest with a doleful look in his eyes when he looked up at Quackity. The man didn’t spare him an ounce of pity, instead, the man looked at him with cool regard that had him curling away from the man. 

“So, you want to cower now? Where did the confidence from yesterday? Do your hybrid powers stop working when you’re electrocuted?” He near-interrogated, voice tough and hitting Ranboo’s brain in a way that made him want to plug his ears and never try to speak again. The teen refused the words anyway, speaking up. 

“You didn’t let me explain the other day,” Ranboo said, exasperated. “I was telling you since the End is blocked off here, it’s less of a chance that I’ll come back, or that the three lives rule applies to me. I would  _ die,  _ Quackity. I had no choice but to give him the armour.” 

Quackity hummed, looking at the diamond axe in his hands as he turned it over in his grasp, thumbing over engravings as he waited for Ranboo to shift back before responding, happy with the fear that had been instilled into the hybrid. 

“Maybe I’d be glad a Face-Eater like you would die faster, ever considered that?” Quackity questioned plainly, with the air of nonchalance that should only come from someone stating the weather or reading off the news to a friend during breakfast. Ranboo’s eyes widened, mouth parting slightly before Quackity continued speaking, not giving him a chance to reply as he paced in front of the cell slowly, footsteps confident as his diamond axe swung by his side. 

“You’re lucky we haven’t decided to execute you. The President disagreed that treason should be met with ‘such harsh punishment.’ But he said nothing about punishing you for your crimes. Nor did he say anything against getting information from you that could be used to threaten the wellbeing of L’manberg and its citizens. To even consider the fact that you tried to dishonour President Wilbur, may he rest well, by disrespecting his land, is treason enough to have you killed. You should be glad. You should be kneeling at my feet at the knowledge you won’t be killed for your sins as you should have.” 

Ranboo wasn’t sure how to respond to Quackity’s ravings, only nodding every now and then to confirm that he heard. The man looked at him, eyes narrowed as he glared at the Ender hybrid. “Well?” He demanded. 

“Well?” Ranboo questioned hesitantly. The man scoffed, hitting the ground outside his cell with the diamond axe and watching him flinch back. 

“You should be kneeling at my feet, thanking me for mercy.” Ranboo wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but judging from the tone of his voice, he didn’t want to get near Quackity at all. The man was making little sense, even as a member of the Butcher Army he hadn’t sounded this unhinged in the name of L’manberg, nor did he honour Wilbur Soot the way he had. Quackity slammed his diamond axe against the bars, the sound echoing throughout the tiny bunker he was in and making Ranboo jump, nearly freezing up in the process. 

“I said  _ kneel! _ ’ He screeched, eyes wild and rabid as he glared into the cell. Ranboo did as he said, scrambling to the front of his cell to press his forehead against the stone. His body trembled as Quackity grinned above him, shoulders raising as the diamond axe moved to rest against his neck, slicing off bits of hair at the back of his head with each breath he took that moved his upper body. 

“I should kill you right now,” Quackity breathed, Ranboo’s eyes filling with tears as his vision blurred as minutes ticked by in silence. The diamond axe was moved from his neck, the teen releasing a tense breath he had been holding in. 

“I can do worse than death,” the man muttered, shaking his head as he turned and left. Ranboo moved away from the front of the cell, staying near the back and tracking Quackity as he made his way up the stairs, disappearing from sight before the light had been shown to signify the Overworld and the knowledge of where he was. 

Ranboo’s eyes were wide and shiny as he stared at the stairway that Quackity had left from, perfectly clear despite the dim light. His vision blurred around the corners, his whole body shaking as he attempted to hold back a cry that originated from deep within the back of his throat. His eyes were sore as tears spilled from them, unbidden as they travelled down his cheeks in rivulets that refused to stop. Ranboo couldn’t stop the sob that followed, his body crumpling in on itself as he tried to catch a breath that wasn’t there. 

His mind was somewhere far away from the cell he was in, and his body was reminded of nothing but the feeling of electrocution and the sharp axe that was poised at the back of his neck. It tugged his soul into two places that made him panic more, memories spiralling as he scrambled for a book that he couldn’t find. His suit jacket wasn’t on him, nor was his dress shirt, the familiar material replaced with a plain t-shirt that felt like fire against his skin. Ranboo let out a low whine amid his crying, claws scrambling at his arms and reaching for fabric that wasn’t there. 

Tiny lines of red built their way upon his upper arms until he had finally calmed down, rocking himself back and forth until his mind wandered back into his body, eyes clear and tear tracks stuck to the skin under his eyes, burning them in the process. Crying was never fun for the Ender hybrid. 

Ranboo scrubbed at his face with the top of his shirt, hiding behind the fabric as he took deep, shuddering breaths; the type that shook your soul and recollected your emotions in an attempt to pretend nothing had been wrong in the first place. It was the same sort of action that someone would expect if they had just run a marathon and had been reaping the physical and mental consequences, save for the exception that the physical consequences had yet to come for him. 

He ignored that little part of his inner monologue, instead sniffling as he looked around to examine the room that he was in. 

There was little to tell where he was, nor was there a chance to see the sun either. All he knew was that he was underground and it was far from the surface. The cell he was in didn’t resemble anything of Sam’s, either, so he didn’t worry too much about that aspect. It would be much easier to tell if the redstoner made something. The bars on the cell, for example, didn’t have the signature of the redstoner imprinted into the sides despite being electric, and he could tell how shoddy the building was in comparison to the man’s neat building. 

The walls were cracked in some places and looked like it was an older room as well. He could faintly hear water after about half-an-hour of silent listening, but it was still-standing water and had only sloshed up against stone once in a blue moon. It would most likely be loudest if he had tried to run through it, but there was little chance he’d do that. After another couple of minutes of examining, he could make out a bloodstain outside his cell. Ranboo shuddered but made sure to remember that it was outside of his cell and not inside. 

It was a small mercy, Ranboo thought bitterly, drawing his knees up to his chest as he took in another deep breath in an attempt to calm down from the aftermath of Quackity’s actions. 

From the sounds of Quackity’s monologue, Tubbo sounded less than okay. Something must’ve happened to bring him back into the robotic state he was in before they built the Bee Apiary, but Ranboo couldn’t think of anything. Maybe it had something to do with Tommy? Or Christmas? It could’ve been possible that he was upset about the fact that Tommy wasn’t allowed back for the holidays, but he doubted something like that could upset him that much if he could simply just go to Logstead to see him. 

A stab of pain hit Ranboo’s head, making him wince as he grabbed at the side of his skull. It was the tell-tale sign he was missing something, something  _ important.  _ But he couldn’t check what it was, not with his memory books confiscated and in the hands of the L’manberg cabinet. They knew everything he had been writing down now, and surely they would know of Techno and Tommy staying together in his home. 

Ranboo frowned again, the same spot on his head throbbing. Why was Tommy staying with Techno, anyway? The teen was fine in Logstead, save for Dream constantly over his shoulder in a menacing fashion. It didn’t make sense, and he didn’t have anything to read to remember what made it make sense, either.

Unbeknownst to him, this was the first crack of many in his once-strong resolve. 

* * *

When Ranboo was next visited, it had been to the sound of slow footsteps making their way down the stairs, hesitant in the way they sounded and very clearly belonging to only one person that Ranboo could remember. 

At this point, it had nearly been three weeks since he had seen the light of day. Quackity had come back, again and again, to rant and rave about the country and the lengths they would go to keep it safe and pure of hybrids like him. He heard no news of Tommy or Techno, nor did he hear anything of Tubbo and the others. Ranboo didn’t even think that Niki knew what was going on in the country, far-off in the city she said she was going to build. 

There was a point where he had awoken with a splash of water in his face, dripping down his chest and leaving burning trails in his skin that made him cry out in pain. Quackity was particularly unforgiving that day, holding his memory book to his chest and reading off little bits of info only to follow-up by whipping at his legs if he wasn’t given an immediate explanation on what it meant and if it was a threat to L’manberg. 

His voice had nearly gone permanently hoarse after that, legs red and floor bloody as he was left to patch up his wounds with a meagre amount of bandages that were half-soaked in water. There was little that he had to work with if he wanted to clean his wounds, so he had to result to wiping his legs with his dried t-shirt and wrapping it messily with shaking hands through blurry eyes. 

The following panic attack had left him shaky and out-of-breath for hours until he had passed out simply from exhaustion and succumbing to his wounds, Ranboo’s skin marred with slowly-healing scars that turned a pale shade of white over a few days in the week. Maybe it could be attributed to his Ender qualities, but the water he was splashed with again and again and again had left him more than injured in the aftermath, eventually growing accustomed to a constant burning in his limbs and cuts and every part of his body.

This routine continued similarly with only a few days break in between, during which Ranboo assumed the man would be off at his work doing things that would end up leading to more information to try and get out of him. Every now and then, Quackity would try something new before growing bored. It only took a day for him to grow tired of how fast Ender hybrid teeth grew back, even in the case they were forcefully pulled from his mouth. Ranboo couldn’t have been more relieved at the news, mouth bloody and tears making their way down his cheeks to join the splatter of liquid on his shirt. 

Yesterday’s treatment had been particularly hard, with his feet ending up whipped at for about an hour before Quackity decided he was done with whatever he was trying to accomplish in the process. Ranboo had been left to wrap his feet up and pretend they didn’t hurt, conditioning himself into believing that he didn’t need anything for his wounds besides food and bandages. The lack of food was particularly unhelpful in this belief, but the little that he was gifted every few days was enough to keep him going when things were particularly hard and left him with more tears than he needed. 

Ranboo looked up at the mouth of the stairway with tired eyes as Fundy stepped into view, the first time he had seen the fox in nearly a month. He barely had the energy to get up and move from his corner to get a better look at the man who had been scared away from him over the past weeks. The lack of human contact wasn’t enough to force him to his feet, instead only proving to make him warier of the idea that Fundy was just there to hurt him more. 

The look on Fundy’s face when he caught sight of Ranboo wasn’t one that he could describe in words, but it was clearly horror-filled when he caught sight of the blood that stained the floors and walls of his cell. They were practically black with how the blood had built up and dried over time, painting a horrifying image for the fox hybrid. The stained gray shirt didn’t help in his assumptions of what had happened, his shirt so dirty it was hard to tell it was a light-gray at the beginning of his stay in the prison. 

“Ranboo?” His voice came, quiet and shaky. The hybrid left his head hanging down, not wanting to answer him in the fear that he would be there to hurt him as well. Fundy shifted outside his cell, Ranboo watching his feet move nervously as he paced a little. The fox hybrid knocked against the iron bars lightly, rapping his knuckles against the metal to try to get his attention. Ranboo didn’t do so much as breath too loud, eyes closing in an exhausted blink. 

“Are you alive? Ranboo?” Fundy’s voice grew more panicked at the radio silence he was receiving, the teen letting his arms flop from where they had been resting in his lap and go off to the side lifelessly. The energy he had was drained, for the most part, a mop of messy, matted hair covering his eyes from view.

They shot open at the sound of footsteps that had been followed by a jingle of keys. He looked up through his hair and caught sight of Fundy returning to the door, the man turning back to the stairwell nervously before turning back to the cell door. 

“Ranboo?” Fundy asked again, voice quiet and shaking. “I swear if you’re pretending to be dead, I’ll… Fucking splash you, or something.

His voice trailed off as the keys inserted themselves into the lock, turning and swinging the door open. 

The sound was loud and grating to Ranboo’s ears, and it sent a shot of adrenaline up his spine that nearly had him shiver if it weren’t for him forcing the feeling down with everything he had not to give away the fact that he was awake and alive. He breathed quietly through his nose as his eyes were wide open, pupils shrinking down until they were slivers of cat eyes in his iris that made them look as though they had been split in two. The threat of the water wasn’t enough to sway him, and it only proved to pull a string loose in his mind as he forgot his promise not to hurt his friends in favour of  _ freedom.  _

As Fundy grew closer and Ranboo’s will grew weaker, the man put a hesitant hand down on the Ender hybrid's shoulder. 

With a shriek that sounded inhuman, Ranboo twisted and bit down on the fox’s arm with fangs that had been dulled down but still stung enough to hurt, yanking at the skin in an attempt to take a chunk of it with him. Fundy screeched, scrambling back to the door, but was too slow in his attempt. 

Ranboo had gotten his hold on the fox hybrid and tore at him with everything he had, claws out and a hint of a feral glint in his eyes that had Fundy terrified, wet clothes not enough to weigh the Ender hybrid down and force him to stop his assault. He only snapped out of it when Fundy had clawed back at his face, raking over an eye as he let out an Enderman-like shriek. He regained a bit of sense and knew what to do at the moment after that. 

Ranboo had gotten up from where he was in a millisecond, pushing through the doorway and slamming the cell shut behind him. 

His eyes were reflective of his wild nature at the moment, barely a hint of humanity in them as he tore his way up the stairwell only to be greeted with a hallway. There was no chance to think as he ran left, choosing the direction at random with his claws out and adrenaline pushing him to keep going. Ranboo could hear yells from random in the halls, too disoriented to figure out where they had been coming from. 

A jolt of hope stabbed through his chest, worming its way into his heart and settling down as he finally saw a glint of what looked like natural light. He could almost smell the grass outside as he reached out for the door at the end of the tunnel, bony fingers twisting around the doorknob, ready to pull it open and- 

A burning pain made its way through his body as he was splashed with water from behind, a hoarse scream making its way out of his mouth as he crumpled, fingers slipping loose from where he grabbed at the doorknob. Ranboo’s eyes filled with tears, blurring his vision as despair plunged him into anger and sorrow. 

“ _ No! _ ” He shrieked, kicking away the water uselessly as he writhed, the burning feeling sinking into his cuts as Ranboo struggled in his own pile of limbs, eventually being held down by whoever had thrown the bucket of water on him. The hybrid shook his head uselessly, kicking back at the arms that restrained him and biting at fingers that made their way too close to his face. He had truly abandoned the idea of trying to be civilized in this fight, unforgiving as he clawed at anything in an attempt to hurt, to get away, to be  _ safe-  _

“No, no no  _ no no no _ ,” Ranboo sobbed uselessly, twisting his face away from hands that tried to grab at it and keep it still, eventually being forced to keep still and forcing a muzzle over him once more, turning him over to reach his hands. It was eerily similar to his public arrest, save for the fact that this felt much more devastating. 

The pained cries and sobs and tears that forced their way through the muzzle were enough for the person handling him to wince in sympathy, though they didn’t pause in their job as he felt his hands be restrained by metal cuffs in front of him this time. Ranboo struggles grew slow, adrenaline fading and the extent of his injuries returning full-force as he attempted to curl in on himself. He could barely feel a hand lift him up before he felt the touch of metal around his throat. It was loose enough that he could breathe but it was obviously meant to restrain. 

A chain was attached and Ranboo didn’t fight as the man who found him held on tightly to the end he hadn’t attached to his neck, dragging along the hybrid who did little to fight. He coughed once and devolved into a violent fit but he did little to fight the way he had before. Ranboo was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. 

When he was set back in his cell and the muzzle was removed, he finally looked back up to see who had moved him in the first place. He wasn’t too surprised to see that it was Punz, only wondering how much it must have cost to have him guard their little cell in the ground under L’manberg. He hung his head, gasping for breath that wouldn’t come as the man waited for him to catch his breath before speaking. 

“I’m sorry about this, Ranboo. Just so you know,” Punz said, voice holding a hint of sympathy. Ranboo shook his head, wiping at his mouth with one bound hand. 

“Tell Fundy I’m sorry,” Ranboo croaked, voice hoarse and vanishing from how much he had cried and screamed in the past hour. Punz nodded once, eyes soft before he left him to his corner, pressing something into the ground next to him and leaving to close the cell door again. 

The sound of the lock shouldn’t have affected him as much as it did, but it immediately left him with tears in his eyes once more.

* * *

When Ranboo had awoken to quiet whispers in the dark corners of his cell, he wasn’t sure what to feel besides primal fear and a sense to protect himself from anything that would try to come near him in the state that he was in. He was weak, tired, unable to move, vulnerable to anyone that wanted to hurt him. He ignored the little voice in his head that told him it was only L’manberg trying to hurt him in favour of letting out a low gurgle at whatever got near him. 

It was quite a process to realize that his friends were the ones who had done this in the first place, especially when it was Quackity who had done the most of it. The man had hardly even acted how he did before. It was as though something had taken over him the moment that Techno had killed him in that fight and forced him into the state that he was in now. It was the only thing that Ranboo wanted to believe, but it made him feel crazy and that scared him more than anything. 

The thing he was scared of most wasn’t something that he could define properly, but he could narrow it down so that one that he was confident about was that Ranboo was terrified of going insane in his little cell by himself. It had only taken Tommy two weeks on his own to break completely, even under the subtle manipulation of Dream. Ranboo had been under constant stress and pressure for almost a month straight, as well as suffering from infections he was sure that his injuries were caused. It was enough for him to be scared that he would end up as Wilbur had. 

There were nightmares that he never spoke on that would haunt him throughout his sessions with Quackity, up to the point where he couldn’t tell when he was asleep or awake altogether. It led to a spiral that had him forgetting what was real or not as well. Did he really give Techno his armour because the man threatened him? Did Tubbo build the Bee Apiary or was that a figment of his imagination? Was the Butcher Army successful in their attempt to kill Techno? Was Tommy dead? Was his tower indicative of his fate? He couldn’t remember whether Tommy was alive or not, and the confusion left him with more grief than the teen’s death ever could. 

Everything in his mind was twisting and turning and trying to justify everything that happened while his Ender instincts had been completely fucked up in an attempt to draw themselves back and keep Ranboo safe. His body had made the connection that displaying those traits would directly lead to pain and it was a struggle with himself to try and control his instincts while they forced themselves down to please Quackity. It was like his entire body was at war with himself and he could do nothing about it. 

His state of mind was fragile at this point, Ranboo could safely say. He couldn’t believe anything. He didn’t know what was going on. He wasn’t even sure if the voices he heard were real or not. 

Ranboo made a soft noise of confusion in the back of his throat as his gurgle went unanswered, sounding hoarse but more like his human voice than the other did. 

The voices paused at the noise before growing a little louder, more frantic. Ranboo’s eyes narrowed in the dark as he adjusted to the dimness before hearing the cell door swing open, two pairs of footprints making their way over. Ranboo’s fight-or-flight almost immediately kicked in, the teen hissing at whatever came close, hearing the footsteps pause in the process. 

There was a small whispered conversation, that was mostly tuned out in favour of watching the two carefully, waiting for any movement from the two that would alert him of any danger. Ranboo could distantly hear a voice in the back of his mind that yelled at him to listen, but all his support was the Ender in him that had ended up controlling his actions at the current moment. He had little said in what was going on. 

Ranboo flinched back once one of the figures in the dark slowly moved closer, despite their hands up in a universal sign of peace. He made little noises of distress as he curled his limbs all impossibly close to his body in the tight space before the figure was sitting right in front of him, knelt down and holding out a hand to him. Ranboo hissed and shook his head in a flick before his eyes focused on what he was looking at. 

It was Tommy, he realized. With a mop of blond hair and blue eyes that were oh-so-familiar in their candour and the way his mind decided he could trust the teen. It was a little untainted part of his mind that had decided that his trust in Tommy could be unwavering and the teen would never hurt him. That part was overshadowed by the part of him that screamed at him that it was just a trick and a dream and an illusion, nothing that he could trust, nor was it real at all. 

Ranboo decided to believe the latter of the voices, placing a bony hand in Tommy’s and wrapping his fingers around the others, squeezing gently. The illusion felt as real as any other, and he felt like he was made out of clouds. Tommy’s face swam back in his vision as Ranboo lifted his head. 

“Ranboo!” Tommy’s excited voice whispered, squeezing Ranboo’s hand back. He flinched a little at the noise, though he knew it was a figment of his imagination. Fake-Tommy seemed to have noticed the movement, a little frown on his face as he quieted down and examined his face a little closer. His eyes flicked over the right side of Ranboo’s face, seeing the skin marred by scars and the way he had his eye shut. 

“What the hell’d they do to you, man?” His voice was so painfully  _ sad  _ that Ranboo couldn’t stop the tears that welled in his own eyes, nor could he stop the sob that bubbled its way out of his throat, leaning forward into Tommy’s arms to cry his heart out for what must’ve been the ninth time that week alone. 

“Everything hurts,” Ranboo cried into his shoulders, feeling the warmth of his arms around him and growing more distressed at the first kind touch that he had felt in a long time. He shook in Tommy’s gentle hold as he shushed him gently, not letting the teen pull back and keeping his arms stubbornly curled into the back of his shirt, not daring to let go despite how his dirt and blood-stained fingers would dirty the white fabric of his sweater. Ranboo shook his head, again and again, and again as he continued to cry into his shoulder. 

“You’re not real, you’re not even real,” He sobbed, pressing his forehead into the crook of Tommy’s shoulders as the illusion gently protested, running fingers through his sweaty, bloody hair. Tommy’s reassurances were enough for him to cry himself of tears completely, slumping against the teen. He was shivering, cold air seeping into his bones. 

As if Tommy heard him, he shifted slightly to let a warmth drape over Ranboo’s shoulders, ignoring the way that half of it fell into his blood due to the way he was sitting on the floor. Ranboo could almost pretend that it wasn’t all a fucked-up dream that he was forced into by his consciousness looking for comfort. 

His eyes grew heavy as his grip on Tommy slackened, the last little thing he heard being the teen’s quiet but confident, firm voice. 

“We’re bringing you  _ home,  _ Ranboo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok hi hello this is a little late since i was planning on posting it yesterday as a christmas present but can i just say thank you for all the positive reception of this?? i genuinely have never had this much support on one of my stories, its just insane to me. i cant believe people like my writing this much and it genuinely makes me happy? i really hope you guys liked this chapter and that none of you are disappointed haha. ill try my best to respond to comments when i can ;____;

**Author's Note:**

> so :) i have a couple other parts for this planned, with at least two more chapters. i like how its going so far and i hope you liked it too? tell me what you thought in the comments while i go respond to some from weeks ago lol


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